Duties
- Responsible for supervising the activities and staff of the Ambassador Services for all Veteran enrollees.
- Provides information and training to staff designed to enhance the quality of services provided to Veterans accessing care throughout the Health Care System.
- Provides oversight of and guidance to staff committed to creating a culture of service excellence by providing on-demand, non-medical patient and family services.
- Responsible for implementing and sustaining Ambassador Services best practices and environments to promote positive experiences for Veterans, family members, and visitors.
- Provides technical and administrative supervision to the Lead Patient Relations Assistants and Patient Relations Assistants (Ambassadors). Directs, coordinates, and oversees work of staff. Advises staff regarding policies, procedures, and directives of higher-level management or headquarters.
- Knowledge of the Survey of Healthcare Experience of Patients, Veterans Signals (VSignals), and other data resources that may be used to impact the patient experience.
- Oversees and manages patients' hospital experience by proactively helping patients navigate, physically and experientially, the complex array of services and physical layout of the Health Care System.
- Reviews results of work to assess quality and quantity of work produced by each employee, formulates written procedures and performance standards, reviews work in progress to ascertain problem areas and takes corrective action as necessary.
- Develop mechanisms to build and enhance relationships with patients, as well as to identify barriers to positive patient experience.
- Develops short- and long-range goals and oversees activities to meet the operating goals and objectives of the Front Door Experience.
- Knowledge and skill in Patient Centered Care.
- Skill in navigating Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) and Veterans Integrated System Technology Architecture (VISTA) to identify patient appointment and inpatient admission information.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm
Position Description Title/PD#: Supervisory Patient Relations Assistant/PD03956A
Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.
Requirements
Conditions of employment
- You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
- Subject to a background/suitability investigation
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
- A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc. is required
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents).
- Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.
Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.
Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.
Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/03/2026.
Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.
Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
You may qualify based on your experience as described below:
Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the GS-06 level in the Federal service, that equipped me with the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required to successfully perform the duties of this position and that is directly related to the work of a Supervisory Patient Relations Assistant. Specialized experience includes but is not limited to: (1) Leading, coordinating, or supporting the work of staff engaged in patient relations or customer service activities, including assigning tasks, providing guidance, and ensuring adherence to established policies and service standards; (2) Assisting in the implementation and sustainment of programs and best practices designed to enhance the patient and family experience by identifying barriers, improving access to services, and facilitating navigation of complex healthcare systems; (3) Monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating work processes and service delivery to assess quality, efficiency, and productivity, and recommending or implementing improvements; (4) Utilizing patient experience data, feedback systems, and operational metrics to identify trends, resolve issues, and improve overall service outcomes; (5) Providing training, coaching, or guidance to staff to strengthen customer service, communication, and patient-centered care practices; (6) Applying knowledge of organizational policies, procedures, and healthcare systems to independently resolve patient concerns and coordinate with clinical and administrative staff; and (7) Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with patients, families, and multidisciplinary teams to promote a culture of service excellence and continuous improvement.
Preferred Experience:
- Customer service experience
- Ability to set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines
- Ability to manage conflicting priorities from clinical and administrative staff
You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
- Communications
- Customer Service
- Interpersonal Skills
- Organizational Awareness
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Note:
A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.
Education
There is no educational substitution at this grade level.
Additional information
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
A supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
All VA Health Care Personnel (HCP) must receive the annual influenza vaccination or obtain an approved medical or religious exemption. Those with exemptions must wear a face mask. Noncompliance may result in disciplinary action, including removal. HCP includes all clinical and administrative staff, contractors, trainees, and volunteers, whether paid or unpaid, who work in or interact with VA patients or staff in any VA or VA-supported care setting, including home-based care.
Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.
The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/.
Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Required Documents
Documents Accepted:
- Cover Letter
- DD-214/ Statement of Service
- Disability Letter (Schedule A)
- Disability Letter (VA)
- PCS Orders
- Proof of Marriage Status
- Resume
- Separation Notice (RIF)
- SF-15
- SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
- Transcript
Documents Required:
Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application.
Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).
You will not be contacted for additional information. Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted.
Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply. Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position.
Applications are accepted online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.